“True, but you also have one inherent quality that all leaders need, but only the best ones have.”
Jak glanced to the side. “What’s that?”
“You care,” Skellig smiled. “And the people can see it. The Fae can see it. I can see it.”
Jak let out a soft laugh. “Based on some of our past conversations, I would have thought that particular quality was more of a hindrance than a help.”
“Compassion very rarely makes tactical sense.” Skellig straightened as she walked. “But that does not mean it’s a quality leaders should ignore, even an old tactician like myself.” She paused and did not look at Jak for a while. Then, “I’m sorry about the other day, after those...trolls attacked, I rather lost my wits.”
“It’s okay, you had to ask the hard questions,” said Jak. “We couldn’t just make blind assumptions, and you kept us from doing that.”
Skellig turned her head and smiled at Jak. “See what I mean? You care about people, everyone. Not just the Fae, and not just your friends.”
Jak’s smile faltered. “I’m not sure that’s true. I don’t particularly care for the queen, or her priests.”
“The queen has made her own decisions, and those have been what condemned her. Trouble is, she’s also a very good tactician. I wish I knew what she was thinking.”
“Probably that the demons are in league with us, the way they’re following.”
“Of that I have no doubt. The question is, what will she do with that information?”
The sound of a man running toward them caused both to look to their right. Naem was running in their direction. Jak gripped her spear a little harder, though of course he wasn’t attacking. Why did she always have to be so on edge every time he came near?
“I’ve just come from the river,” he said as he approached.
“And?” Skellig didn’t even hesitate. For all of her reaction, you would have thought Naem was nothing more than another soldier in the army, doing his duty. Of course that was silly. Skellig knew that Naem was certainly more than that. For better or worse, Jak could not tell.
“The Water Fae that I brought have adjusted very well, but the river is narrowing and becoming rougher. They’re going to have a hard time soon.”
“Yes, well that’s just going to be the way it is,” Skellig said. “You still have those special wagons you brought with you, correct?”
“Yes...ah, sir!” said Naem. Jak rolled her eyes. There he went, trying to pretend nothing happened and to fit in. But they wouldn’t allow that. He would have to prove himself much more before…
“Good,” Skellig continued. “We will need those once the main river dissappears and we have to carry the Water Fae the rest of the way. We’ll have to consider which one we choose to follow.” Then more to herself, she added, “If only we weren’t so restrained by having to follow a water source.”
“Yes, sir,” said Naem. He glanced at Jak, but she looked away.
“You’ve proven a great help so far, Sergeant,” said Skellig. “Keep it up, and eventually we’ll welcome you back openly. But you’ll understand if right now we have bigger concerns to worry about.”
“Thank you, Major,” said Naem, a hint of relief in his voice. “I was afraid you’d think we were behind the demon army.”
“Oh, the idea came up, it was discussed,” said Skellig, glancing at Jak. “But we knew better. Continue as you were, and you’ll have no problem with me.” She emphasized that last word. Jak scrunched up her face and looked at Skellig. Was Skellig implying that she was the problem here?
“Understood, sir,” said Naem, throwing up a salute. Skellig returned it before Naem left to fall into ranks behind them, probably going to check up on others of his little group of refugees.
Jak and Skellig did not say anything to each other for a while after that. Instead, Jak focused on the path ahead of them. They were rounding one of the foothills now, coming very close to the narrow pass that led between two of the intersecting mountains. The road here was small, but not untraveled. It was one of three main paths to get through the south mountains, so merchants and lone travelers used it a lot to trade with the southern peoples. Though in all honesty, not much trade happened there, and most of it went through Tradehall, which was closer to one of the other mountain passes. This one was more out of the way, and they hadn’t even run into any merchants since arriving.
Jak stared up at the giant cliffs that loomed on either side of them. Their group was already slowing down, to make room for all of them to fit. Thankfully, there were only a few hundred of them, so they’d have an easier time of making it through than the queen’s army, or possibly even the demon army.
A rushing sound greeted Jak’s ears, as they came closer to the river. This gorge through the mountains had been made by the river, though there was still enough space for all of them to walk alongside it. Naem had been right, the waters were becoming pretty rough and shallow in places.
Jak scanned the river to find the Water Fae. She didn’t see them. They must still be nearer the back of the group. Maybe she should send a message for them to take the lead. That would give them plenty of time to get them out and onto the pitch-covered wagons if they encountered an area of the river that they could not swim through.
A great ‘BOOM’ echoed ahead of her, and the ground rumbled beneath her feet. Instantly, Jak had both her spear ready in one hand, and the Pillar of Eternity brandished in the other. Shouts of alarm came from behind, but Jak’s eyes were fixed forward.
Ahead of them was a giant troll, just like all the others she’d seen so far. No, this was one of the trolls she’d seen. It was missing an arm.
This was the troll that had attacked their camp earlier.
Skellig was yelling something to the others, and as many as could lined up beside Jak, readying weapons. Jak was only barely aware.
This was going to be tricky.
Giant footsteps rattled Jak’s knees as more of the trolls lined up beside the first, some coming from behind rocks in their path, others jumping from higher up the cliffs, as the first had done. There were a half-dozen of them at least. Though as Jak narrowed her eyes, she could see even more coming from behind.
Yes, this was definitely going to be tricky.
Desperate, she scanned each one of them, looking for the one she had encountered in the ghost town of Riverbrook, but she couldn’t see him. Would she even recognize him if he was here? They all looked like they were made of stone. But at least the one she knew was much larger than the others.
The one missing an arm bellowed, and the sound roared at them, amplified by the canyon walls.
It was angry. It remembered what they had done to it, and its companion.
Jak swallowed, bringing the Pillar of Eternity to bear, and all but letting her spear drop. None of their usual weapons were going to do any good against these things. Could anything be done?
“Skellig!” she yelled, spinning to find the major, who had left her side. The woman was behind her, herding forward, of all people, the gnomes.
The troll bellowed again and a rhythmic crunching indicated it was beginning to charge them.
“Let me try to talk to them!” she yelled at Skellig. “I got through to one before.” She hadn’t had a chance to tell the council about that. Perhaps that had been a mistake. Now everyone considered these trolls as monsters, when Jak knew that wasn’t necessarily the case.
She didn’t wait to hear Skellig’s response. Instead, she spun back to face the advancing trolls. Now to find a way to get through to them without resorting to violence. The wind was picking up behind Jak, replacing the still humidity that had hung in the air before.
A storm was coming.
Jak called on her new well of power. The Telekinetic brand on her forehead blazed with light, illuminating the ground around her. She rose into the air. While she did so, she dropped her spear and lit a column of fire in that hand. Fire wouldn’t do anything against these Fae, but it
could put on an impressive show.
Indeed, the lead troll fixed its lightning eyes on her, and it slowed to a halt. This was something he hadn’t seen. Some of the others did not see her at first, but as their leader slowed, they too got the idea. Eventually all of them were fixed on her, and surely the eyes of their entire army were watching her from behind as well. She held her flaming hand high, a beacon of light where she hung in the air.
“We’re not here to hurt you!” she scanned the trolls, looking for the big one she had interacted with before. She still did not see him.
The lead troll snarled at her, and she was sure that had she not been suspended in mid air, it would have charged her.
She let the fire in her hand die. Best to show that they were not being aggressive.
“We’re just trying to get away from the two armies behind us.” She continued to speak in a loud voice. “There are demons behind us. They will hurt you if they can. Let us pass and you’re welcome to join us.”
She spared a quick glance down and slightly behind her. Skellig was watching, her eyes calculating, and her arm upraised as if ready to give a signal, or perhaps keeping everyone from attacking. The gnomes were doing something though. She didn’t have enough time to get a close look.
With a roar, the lead troll picked up a bolder and threw it at Jak. Just in time, she called on her Telekinetic magic to move her to the side. She only just managed to do so. This magic was still very new to her. Yells echoed below her as the bolder continued its path and the others had to scramble out of its path.
“Please!” she yelled at the trolls. “We don’t want…” but she dodged as yet another bolder came her way. The others, emboldened by their leader, were beginning to search the ground for something to throw as well. She flew in another direction. If diplomacy wouldn’t work, perhaps she could draw off their attention and give the others a chance to move on. She flew up beyond the trolls to come to their other side, spinning around to face them and her own army beyond.
But holding the Telekinesis like this was beginning to wear on her. Instinctively she called on her Strength to continue powering her other magic. Yet she would need to come down eventually.
For once, something went right. The eyes of the trolls followed her, and they momentarily forgot about the others.
“Okay!” she shouted. “If you won’t play nice, then come and get me.”
18
It was working. They began stumbling back the way they came, drawn to her like moths to an isolated flame.
“Flamedancers!” Skellig called. Jak looked beyond the trolls to see what Skellig was doing. She knew fire would do almost nothing against these things.
But that was when she finally got a glimpse of what the gnomes were doing. With their enate magic of heat, they were touching the sides of the canyon and the giant boulders and outcroppings in the side of the mountain, even the very dirt beneath their feet. And it was all beginning to melt away.
Of course. Jak finally realized Skellig’s strategy. The woman was brilliant! Flamedancers could manipulate molten rock to some degree. Once the gnomes had created enough of it, they could use it as a weapon. Hopefully it was more effective against these trolls than flames alone. But of course, this was all a worst-case scenario. If Jak wanted any chance of reasoning with these trolls, she had to get to them before they resorted to violence. Perhaps if she…
In her momentary distraction, a flying boulder clipped the edge of her shoulder. With a cry, she lost her concentration and fell several feet to the ground. She hit with a jolt that rocked through every bone in her body. Why hadn’t she given herself Toughness before now? Were any bones broken?
She rose to her feet, able to do that much at least. But the Pillar of Eternity had dropped from her hand.
Bellows from the oncoming trolls drove her panic as she scanned the ground around her. There! The Pillar of Eternity had fallen about ten feet away. In a frantic effort, she scrambled towards the Relic.
The lead troll was almost on her, she could tell from the rumble of its footsteps. With a final lunge, she threw herself forward whilst simultaneously reaching out with Telekinesis for the staff. They flew through the air towards one another until at last her fingers closed on its cool, polished shaft, just as her body connected with the ground.
In an instant, she summoned its magic and all sound ceased. Taking a deep breath, then another, she rose to her feet and turned. The lead troll had its one arm out, reaching for her. Its fingers were mere inches from her body.
She swallowed and instinctively took several steps backward. That had been too close. But with the magic of the Pillar of Eternity, she was now the only hope of eliminating this threat.
Someone had to ask the hard questions. That’s what she’d said to Skellig.
Could she let these Fae live if they would destroy the others? Was there no other way?
Keeping the Pillar in hand, she stepped forward, reaching her free arm till it was merely inches away from the one remaining arm of the troll, who still hung suspended in the air. All she would have to do is give it one solid tug, and with the magic of the Pillar, it would come flying off. She could tear these trolls apart if she needed to.
Yet a familiar nausea began building up in her stomach. Not as sudden this time, but it was there. A warning that what she was considering would not be in line with the purpose of the Pillar’s magic. It would not be right.
But was it right to let them slaughter the rest of her party? Or was there another way? Yes, there had to be.
She backed up until she was a good distance away from the troll, then let her magic drop. The troll stumbled forward, the quarry he had been reaching for suddenly gone.
“Hey!” she shouted. Its head spun to face her. Its eyes narrowed in confusion. To the troll’s perspective, she had just disappeared then reappeared where she now stood. “Come and get me.”
It roared and came at her once more, the other trolls following in its wake. Jak stayed exactly where she was, until it was almost on top of her. Then she summoned the magic of time once more and the troll stopped midstep. She ran back even further, before dropping the magic and letting the process repeat itself.
And it worked. The troll grew increasingly enraged, stamping on the ground and slamming the canyon wall with its arm.
But some of the others were beginning to lose interest in her. She was, after all, just one small human. There were plenty of others that interested them more. One by one, those in the back of the group began to turn away.
In a last effort, Jak summoned the magic to freeze time and run up to those who were peeling off from the group. Her sudden appearance right beside them threw many of them off, but when she just disappeared after they swiped at her, their interest seemed to wane. These were smarter than the one-armed troll. They weren’t allowing themselves to become frustrated just because they couldn’t catch her. Or maybe they just didn’t care.
Well, it had been worth a shot. Jak summoned her Telekinesis and rose into the air once more. The gnomes had prepared a lot more molten rock by this point, and Skellig and the other Flamedancers were already forming it into a barrier against the trolls. One of the giant Fae smashed into the molten wall, screaming as he did so. Jak winced. It would seem the fiery rock had some effect after all.
Water suddenly zoomed through the air and crashed on top of the bellowing troll. Steam hissed and clouded the area. When it dispersed, the troll remained locked under the now hardened stone. It struggled, roared, but everything below its neck remained still. It was trapped.
Skellig wasn’t trying to kill the trolls using the molten rock, she was trying to confine them.
Jak found the major among the other Flamedancers, lifting her hands as she tried to guide another tendril of molten lava towards one of the other trolls. Had this been her plan all along? When had she gone from wanting to kill the trolls, to this?
Some of the trolls were beginning to catch on. They avoided the warm light o
f the molten stone and began circling the group of Flamedancers cautiously. Other soldiers in the back raised their spears, readying themselves.
She had to keep the trolls distracted, give the others a chance to capture them.
Jak lifted herself into the air once again. “Hey!” she yelled. “Which one of you is the one I met in Riverbrook not far from here.”
She didn’t really expect an answer. All she needed was something to shout at them to get their attention. She was surprised, therefore, at how well the distraction worked. The trolls all turned to stare at her, their eyes glowing purple in the night. Even the one-armed troll paused momentarily. Had they understood her? She knew they were capable of understanding speech. At least the other one had.
“Keep it up, Jak!” she heard Skellig say in a strained voice.
“Ah...yes, that’s right.” Jak continued in a loud voice. “I met one of you in Riverbrook and we didn’t fight. Is he with you? Big guy.”
The one-armed troll roared, and went to pick up a bolder. Jak tensed. But she had given the Flamedancers enough time to work. Collectively they threw a sheet of hot lava onto several of the closest trolls. The leader jumped out of range just in time, but many of the others were not so lucky. A wave of water from the river was the second to fall, guided by the Water Fae not far away.
The one-armed troll bashed his arm on the ground and stamped his feet. He was not happy. From a safer distance away from the Flamedancers, he picked up a stone and hurled it at them. Not at Jak this time.
“No!” She readied herself to catch the thing with Telekinesis, but she couldn’t do so while still holding herself aloft.
She fell out of the sky, barely managing to catch the boulder as it flew. With a dull thud that knocked the wind out of her, she fell to the ground for the second time that night. Okay, maybe flying wasn’t the best idea after all.
With most of the trolls temporarily subdued, she took in the rest of her group surrounding her. Most were on their guard. But some were sparing nervous glances behind them, as if worried that more trolls might sneak up on them from…
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